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Five Beirut Bands You Probably Don’t Know (But Should)
At this point, I think we’ve all established that Lebanon’s music scene is crazy good, and I mean crazy good. There is so much talent coming out of Beirut, and the music being produced rivals that of the international scene. We’ve all heard and fell in love with Mashrou Leila’s melancholic tunes, Adonis’s upbeat melodies, Lazzy Lung’s rebellious wit, and the Wanton Bishops’ drunken blues. But if you dig a little deeper, you’d be surprised to find that there is much, much more amazing music being made by bands other than these established groups.
1. Flum Project
The avant-garde group of the music scene, Flum project are masters of making music that stretches beyond the boundaries of reality, uplifting listeners into an ethereal dream-like space. Improv psychedelic trip-hop with some ambient drum and bass is what would begin to describe their sound, but, I suggest you check them out and figure that out for yourself, or don’t, just get lost in their stretches of electronic beats.
2. Unplugged Poets
The Unplugged Poets are new to the scene, having been established by Marwan Hayek and Karl Metni just last year, however, they’ve already garnered themselves a dedicated fan base – and with good reason – these guy put on a pretty cool live show. As per their motto, “rock, rap, and Jack Daniels,” their sound is smooth rap set to your favorite rock tunes. Their cover of The White Stripes ‘Seven Nation Army’ is sublime. You can catch them performing all over the city, and, be sure to check out their Soundcloud page for TUP Tuesdays.
3. Goldfish Parade
This duo, consisting of Layal Buheiry and Yann Charaoui, formed in 2009, releasing their debut trip-rock album, “The Blues Again.” At the time they called it “their first chapter in a story about fear and hope.” Although they’ve been rather dormant, aside from a release in collaboration with Beirut Jam Sessions last year, Goldfish Parade are on-point: think Portishead and Massive Attack meet Bonobo and the Thievery Corporation and you can start to get an idea of what they sound like. Fingers crossed we get to hear more from them!
4. Troika
Many may consider Mirian Gurunian one of Lebanon’s most respected guitar players, having fronted influential bands such as Blend and more recently, the acclaimed Pindoll. Troika is his side project, which places him with various eclectic guests, producing improvised beats that range from mellow to hard-bop and rock-n-roll.
5. The Keserwany Sisters
You might recognize Michelle & Noel from their hilarious 2010 single, “Jagal el Usek” that went viral on YouTube. However, these two have more on their repertoire than that one song. Recognized for the comedic facets of their music, their catchy songs are smart, sarcastic plays on the sometimes ridiculous aspects of Lebanese society we’ve all encountered. Definitely something you should check out, they are playing Yukunkun on June 14 and will be debuting some new material.
1. Flum Project
The avant-garde group of the music scene, Flum project are masters of making music that stretches beyond the boundaries of reality, uplifting listeners into an ethereal dream-like space. Improv psychedelic trip-hop with some ambient drum and bass is what would begin to describe their sound, but, I suggest you check them out and figure that out for yourself, or don’t, just get lost in their stretches of electronic beats.
2. Unplugged Poets
The Unplugged Poets are new to the scene, having been established by Marwan Hayek and Karl Metni just last year, however, they’ve already garnered themselves a dedicated fan base – and with good reason – these guy put on a pretty cool live show. As per their motto, “rock, rap, and Jack Daniels,” their sound is smooth rap set to your favorite rock tunes. Their cover of The White Stripes ‘Seven Nation Army’ is sublime. You can catch them performing all over the city, and, be sure to check out their Soundcloud page for TUP Tuesdays.
3. Goldfish Parade
This duo, consisting of Layal Buheiry and Yann Charaoui, formed in 2009, releasing their debut trip-rock album, “The Blues Again.” At the time they called it “their first chapter in a story about fear and hope.” Although they’ve been rather dormant, aside from a release in collaboration with Beirut Jam Sessions last year, Goldfish Parade are on-point: think Portishead and Massive Attack meet Bonobo and the Thievery Corporation and you can start to get an idea of what they sound like. Fingers crossed we get to hear more from them!
4. Troika
Many may consider Mirian Gurunian one of Lebanon’s most respected guitar players, having fronted influential bands such as Blend and more recently, the acclaimed Pindoll. Troika is his side project, which places him with various eclectic guests, producing improvised beats that range from mellow to hard-bop and rock-n-roll.
5. The Keserwany Sisters
You might recognize Michelle & Noel from their hilarious 2010 single, “Jagal el Usek” that went viral on YouTube. However, these two have more on their repertoire than that one song. Recognized for the comedic facets of their music, their catchy songs are smart, sarcastic plays on the sometimes ridiculous aspects of Lebanese society we’ve all encountered. Definitely something you should check out, they are playing Yukunkun on June 14 and will be debuting some new material.
